How Lancia's WRC trailblazer became a cult classic

Lancia’s bid to win the World Rally crown resulted in a mid-engined, Ferrari-powered weapon that changed the discipline. Half a century on, the Italian marque’s chief Cesare Fiorio looks back

Its striking silhouette and evocative V6 engine note are unmistakable. There hasn’t been a car in the rally world quite like the Lancia Stratos.

This Italian short-wheelbase, wedge-shaped weapon ripped up previous conventions, changed the game in rally car design, and left stunned rivals in its wake. It won 18 WRC rallies, scored 29 podiums, racked up 480 stage wins and collected three world titles (1974-76) to put Lancia firmly on the motorsport map.

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Tom Howard

WRC

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Author Tom Howard

Tom Howard is a News Editor working across both Autosport.com and Motorsport.com websites. Starting out as a sports reporter in local newspapers, Tom focussed on motorsport covering several national championships in the UK, including the BTCC.

After a period working as a freelance journalist, Tom moved to Australia in 2013 landing a job at leading Australian motorsport news outlet speedcafe.com, covering international motorsport events including F1, WRC and Supercars. Progressing to Editor in 2017, Tom was named Motorsport Australia Journalist of the Year for his work. He is also a two-time winner of Supercars Journalist of The Year (2017,2019) and a Supercars Championship Media Award winner in 2019.

Tom moved back to his native UK in 2020, firstly working in BTCC, before joining Autosport and motorsport.com in 2021.